Swegreen makes Ica Maxi Linköping Self-Sufficient in Fresh Lettuce and Herbs

Swegreen's innovative in-store farming solution makes Ica Maxi in Linköping the first supermarket in the country to offer fresh herbs and lettuce, grown from seed to fully mature plant inside the store. Every day, hundreds of fresh leafy greens will be harvested for the store’s customers.

"It doesn’t get more locally produced than this," says Tomas Lundvall, CEO of Ica Maxi Linköping.

The farming facility, located right at the store’s entrance, will feature floor-to-ceiling glass walls on three sides. This, combined with the striking lighting from the plants’ LED lamps, will give the store’s entrance a distinctive look when everything is completed later this spring.

"We’ve chosen a central spot for the farm to clearly demonstrate our commitment to greener and more climate-smart food production. The farm itself will become a destination for our customers, and when they get a chance to taste these crops, many will realize the exceptional quality this farming system offers," says Tomas Lundvall, CEO and owner of the Maxi store.

"Our lettuce and herbs will simply be the smartest food in town," he adds.

The new facility uses hydroponic farming technology—a modern and highly environmentally friendly method of growing, where the crops are grown on a small stone wool plug instead of in soil. The plants receive nutrients directly from the water, which can be recycled indefinitely. The system can also recycle energy, carbon dioxide, and nutrients. Since the growing room is fully enclosed and the growing process is digitally monitored, the environment can be controlled—and optimized—to ensure the best possible taste and nutritional quality. The innovation comes from the Swedish technology company Swegreen, which has developed both the growing chamber and the AI-based control system that manages and optimizes the farming environment via a cloud service.

"We are very proud to collaborate with the Ica Maxi team on this installation. Their commitment to hyper-local and climate-smart food production shows that this store is at the forefront," says Swegreen’s CEO Andreas Dahlin.

"The average vegetables sold in Swedish stores travel about 3,000 kilometers, while these crops haven’t traveled at all. Naturally, this results in better taste, texture, shelf life, and even nutritional value," he continues.

The new in-store farm is set to start delivering fresh greens in May and will provide the Maxi store with various herbs and spices such as cilantro, dill, and parsley, as well as lettuce and kale varieties like arugula and kale. The crops from the in-store farm will also be used for in-house production in the store’s own kitchen, and in the future, there will be possibilities for growing even more types of vegetables.